Areas of Research

Professor Alper's lab studies how physics drives cellular motility. The goal of the research is to understand fundamental physical principles in biology that bridge the atomic, molecular, and cellular scales with a particularly focus on the cytoskeleton; use biophysical approaches to develop novel treatments for disease; and develop new tools to address these challenges. Operating at the interface between the physical and biological sciences, we use biophysical (optical tweezers, microscale thermophoresis), biochemical, and cell and molecular biological approaches as well as high resolution microscopy to collect quantitative data and make predictive models of cellular phenomena.